Sparkyville, USAEpisode 4: Getting On the Good Side
by HPDrummerman
Summary: Sally tries to butter up Violet so she will stop making her do extra work. While visiting Schroeder and Franklin at their old high school where he and them went, Charlie Brown learns about what happened to Lucy and how she landed in prison for two years and why there's a restraining order barring her from contacting Schroeder.
1. Chapter 1

Episode 4: Getting On the Good Side

**CHAPTER 1: A NEW APPROACH**

As the weeks progressed, Sally was finding herself worn down from Violet's endless demands. Plus she was starting to feel like how Charlie used to feel whenever he was on the receiving end of Violet's wrath, depressed. However, rather than cave to the depression like her brother used to do, Sally was going to try to get on her good side and try to do not a good job, but a great job, so she would at least stop screaming and chastising everything she did.

One day, Violet was in her office doing some work. Sally walked in with her dry cleaning, as she had been for the past few weeks.

"Hers's your dry cleaning, Violet," she announced.

"Oh, okay, hang it on the door," muttered Violet, not looking from her computer. Sally did as told, then awaited Violet's next chore. The raven-haired tyrant looked up.

"You need anything?" she snapped.

"Well, I was wondering if you're not busy later, I could treat you to lunch," said Sally. "It will be my treat."

Violet took off her reading glasses and looked at the blonde. "Hmm, offering lunch, huh," she thought to herself. "Looks like someone is trying to butter up the boss."

"So what do you day, Violet?" asked Sally, sneaking in a smile. Violet smiled back.

"Okay, sure," she said. "I still have important files to go over. We can do it in a couple of hours. Right now, head down to H.R. and grab the new applications for me to look over."

"Yes, ma'am!" said a cheerful Sally, and she left out of the office. Violet shook her head.

"Just like her blockhead of a brother," she sighed. "Completely hopeless."

Later at Ray's Diner, Pat was clocking out for the day and getting ready to head back home. One of the other waitresses, Mary, wanted to talk a bit.

"Hey, Pat," she said, "hold up for a minute."

"What's up, Mary?" asked Pat.

"So what's going on with your soldier guy?" Mary wondered.

"Chuck? We're still talking to each other and everything. We ARE childhood friends."

"I know that. But I remember how you always talked about how much you were in love with him and everything. Was just wondering if you two finally got together."

"Not yet, but working on it. It's different from when we were kids. When we were younger, Chuck didn't grasp that I was interested in him. But in his defense, I always played mind games with him and he was too deft to take the bait. But now that we're older, I'm letting things go slow and letting it build. I think he's actually interested now, but holding back himself so we can build and do more together."

"Well, just so you know, we're all rooting for you, hun!"

"Thanks, Mary. See you tomorrow." And Pat hopped in her 1970 Plymouth Road Runner and left for home. Once she got back to her mobile home, she got out of her uniform and took a shower. Then she dressed in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms. She got on her computer and started doing a search for someone. She looked at a website that was supposed to look for people and where they are living. She typed in "Marcie Carlin" and a few results showed up. Unfortunately, all that showed up was her previous address in Sparkyville. There was no results for where she was currently. Pat sighed with frustration.

"Where the hell are you, Marcie?"

_Belfast, Ireland_

Marcie was at the pub slamming down some beers and dancing with some of the local boys there. She was enjoying herself that night. She was also joining the band that was onstage and singing with the lead singer on some songs she knew. All were enjoying the feisty American who came to their country for an escape from her oppressive parents. It was a night to remember.

Sometime later, Marcie was laying in the bed of a pickup owned by the band's singer, Ted O'Malley. She had a big crush on him the first time they met and wanted to hook up with him for the longest time.

"Ya see that constellation, Marcie?" asked Ted. "Ye know what that is?"

"That would be Orion, Ted," said Marcie.

"How did ya know, cailín?"

"You forget, this is up my alley, baby. Plus it's one of the best-known constellations out there."

"Ah yes, you are smart with th' books 'n stuff."

"You see that one up there? That's Perseus."

"You are a smart one, Marcie. I love being with ya."

"And I love being with you, Ted." Both of them started to kiss. Soon they were making out in back of the truck, eventually pulling the blanket over them for cover.

**NEXT CHAPTER: WHAT MADE LUCY SNAP?**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2: FROM FUSSBUDGET TO FELON**

Charlie, along with Cormac and Kevin, were at a booth for the Marines during Career Day at Sparkyville High School. Other booths included culinary schools, business schools, and even the Marine's competitor, the Army. Many kids came up to their booth grabbing pamphlets and stickers with the Corps' symbol on it. Many of Charlie's old teachers even came up to talk to him and find out how he was doing. He would also pay a visit to Schroeder and Franklin, who were teachers there who did Band and Phys. Ed., respectively.

Sometime after Career Day was over, Charlie was chatting with his two friends in Franklin's office. He was saying to Schroeder, "You never told me about what went down between that lady and Lucy."

"I was hoping I'd never had to relive that," said Schroeder, somberly, "but for you, Charlie, I will share with you the details of that awful day. As you know, I'm an assistant to the director here at the school. The woman who was my co-worker her name was Grace. She was interning at the school. So it all started when we were discussing a student's constant tardiness…"

_**Five years earlier…**_

_ Schroeder was gathering up music for the head director of the band. It had been a long day and he was ready to go home and relax. At that moment, Grace walked up to Schroeder._

_ "Schroeder, do you have a minute?" she asked._

_ "Sure, Grace," sighed Schroeder. "Sorry, but I'm just exhausted."_

_ "I understand. Mr. Wheeler had us working hard. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Anthony's constant tardiness."_

_ "Oh yeah. I heard that Wheeler is ready to serve him detention."_

_ "Well, I found out that his tardiness is due to his science teacher having him help with putting equipment away."_

_ "Okay, I'll talk to his teacher and Wheeler about it."_

_ At that moment, Lucy was walking into the building to pick up Rerun, who was in his freshman year of high school. She also knew that Schroeder worked at the school and maybe she could get a glimpse of him and maybe talk to him. He still didn't give Lucy the time of day, but in the years since they were kids, he had lightened up, marginally, enough that he could tolerate her, barely. When she couldn't find Rerun at his usual waiting place, she went toward the band room where Schroeder would be and see if he had seen Rerun._

_ "Hey Schroeder, have you seen my-" She was shocked to see a pretty girl talking to HER Schroeder. Never mind that she wasn't even talking about going out on a date; in Lucy's mind, that was EXACTLY what she was doing._

_ "WHO THE FUCK IS THIS TRAMP?!" she shouted._

_ "LUCY, WE'RE IN SCHOOL!" shouted Schroeder._

_ "ANSWER THE QUESTION!" the fussbudget demanded. "WHO IS SHE?!"_

_ "If you must know, this is Grace, one of the interns here," said Schroeder. "We were discussing…"_

_ "…setting up a date, RIGHT?!" interrupted Lucy._

_ "Miss, I'll have you know that I have no interest in Schroeder like that," Grace protested. "We were talking about a student's chronic tardiness to band practice."_

_ "Which would have led to drinks and dinner," accused Lucy._

_ "LUCY, YOU ARE DELUSIONAL!" Schroeder yelled. "Grace has a boyfriend. I'm not even interested in dating her; almost as much as I'm not interested in you!"_

_ "Don't lie, Schroeder!" sneered Lucy. "At least admit you're attracted to this bitch!"_

_ "EXCUSE ME?!" yelled Grace._

_ "__**THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR YOU, YOU WHORE!**__" And before either one of them could say anything else, Lucy leaped on Grace and started pummeling her. Teachers, staff, and students who stayed after school heard the commotion coming from the band room. Rerun, who was helping a teacher with bringing books back to the library also heard the commotion. Everyone ran to the band room to see what was happening, When they got there they saw a seething Lucy ripping Grace's clothes off of her, leaving her down to her bra and underwear, finally smashing a chair over her, knocking her unconscious._

_ "That'll teach you to steal my man, you tramp!" Lucy sneered, huffing and puffing from the attack._

_ "SWEET JESUS, LUCY, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" screamed Schroeder. "YOU ARE PSYCHOTIC! FOR THE FINAL TIME, WE. ARE. NOT. __**TOGETHER!**__ WE WILL NEVER BE TOGETHER! AND NOW YOU MAY HAVE SERIOUSLY HURT GRACE!"_

_ Before she could say anything, the school security nabbed her and escorted her out of the band room while folks called 9-1-1 to pick up Grace and get her to the hospital. Soon the police were talking to everyone about what had happened. Lucy was placed under arrest and hauled off to jail. Rerun ended up getting the keys from Lucy to drive himself home in her car._

_**Back to present**_

"Grace ended up with a concussion," said Schroeder, finishing up his story. "She also suffered from PTSD, as a result. Lucy went on trial and ended up in the pen where she's at right now."

"How is Grace now?" asked Charlie.

"She made a full recovery, thank goodness," said Schroeder. "But after that incident, she never returned here. Her boyfriend didn't blame me for what happened, either. I did apologize for what Lucy did, though."

"Wow!" said a shocked Charlie. "I knew Lucy could have a temper and sometimes slug someone, but I never thought she would deliver a complete beat-down like that!"

"Yeah, this is why I'm trying to place a permanent restraining order against her now." And Charlie, Schroeder, and Franklin continued to talk about their lives and everything that had happened so far.

**NEXT CHAPTER: WARMING THE ICE QUEEN**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3: TRYING A TRUCE?**

Sally was determined to keep Violet happy so she would stop yelling at her. She did this by asking very few questions and getting help from employees at Grant Industries if she needed it. She even complimented her so she would stay calm and collected; anything it took to stay on Violet's good side. And, to her credit, Violet would tell Sally she did a good job if she really did do good, in spite of her vendetta against her family. While she loved being vindictive, she would give out an "Atta boy" or "Atta girl" if so deserved.

On this day, Sally was handing out mail to the workers and even was in a better mood than she had been in a while. Violet was in her office with her father, Grant, talking about how the company was going with her in charge.

"How are you liking it so far, pumpkin?" asked Grant.

"Oh, daddy, it's wonderful!" said a happy Violet. She never revealed how she REALLY was treating her employees and the interns.

"Well I hope you are treating the staff good," said Grant.

"Oh yes, daddy, we get along real well," she fibbed. Sally came in with the mail.

"Here's your mail, Violet," she announced.

"Oh, thank you, Sally!" said Violet with a voice so sweet it could've given everyone in the building diabetes. "Keep up the good work, okay, dear?"

"Uh, okay, thanks," said Sally.

"Nice to see you, Sally," said Grant.

"You too, Mr. Gray," Sally replied, and she went about her business.

"Well, I'm glad to see everything is going smoothly for you, princess," said a happy Grant.

"It is, daddy, it is," said Violet, crossing her fingers behind her back. The person looking out for Sally walked by and shook their head.

"If only he knew what was really going on," they said to themselves, and continued to walk by.

Charlie was back at his office at the recruitment center. He was on the phone with Colonel Clarke, who was at another recruitment center out of the state.

"Things are going well, sir," said Charlie. "Lance Corporals Ray and Jennings are doing great."

"That's good, sergeant," said the colonel. "I will be away for a while working at other recruitment centers, but I will check in from time to time. I'm sure you can handle it there.

"Absolutely, sir. You can count on me."

"That's what I like to hear. I'll be in touch. Semper Fi."

"Semper Fi." And Charlie hung up the phone. He then made another call. This time to Pat as he was going to see her after he got out. She had just got out of the shower when her cell phone rang. She went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Patty, it's me," said Charlie.

"Hi, Chuck. Almost done at work?"

"I get out in a half hour. Where do you want to go tonight?"

"Well, I was thinking about staying in and renting a movie. Probably ordering out for a pizza or some subs. Not really going out anywhere or anything."

"I gotcha. Well I need to head back home and get out of this uniform and clean up. Then I'll be over your place."

"Actually, I could come over to YOUR place, Chucky baby."

"Are you sure? Sally will probably be home doing homework."

"I don't mind. Besides, we won't be cramped like in my tiny place."

"Point taken. I'll call when I get back home."

"I await your call, Chuck. Bye."

**NEXT CHAPTER: THE BITCH IS BACK!**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4: JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO DO YOUR JOB…**

The next few days went pretty easy for Sally as Violet hadn't given her the usual grief that she would usually give her. It seemed like buttering her up worked and aside from the usual orders and STILL picking up her dry cleaning, things were pretty smooth. But, as the old saying goes, all good things must eventually come to an end. And I came to an end rather abruptly.

Sally had come from the dry cleaners bringing in one of Violet's favorite outfits. Violet had a big date and she wanted to "wow" her date with her favorite outfit.

"Here's your dry cleaning, Violet," Sally announced.

"About time!" said an impatient Violet. "I was hoping they'd get done with it today."

"Your date is tonight, isn't it?' asked Sally.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yeah, it is tonight," Violet replied. "And this is one of my best outfits. I want to impress this guy immensely!" And Violet opened the bag her clothes were in. To her horror, the cleaners ripped one of the sleeves on her dress.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" she exclaimed. "DID YOU DO THIS?!"

"OF COURSE NOT!" yelled Sally. "THE LAST THING I'D DO IS DESTROY ONE OF YOUR DRESSES! ESPECIALLY WITH YOU HOLDING MY FUTURE IN YOUR HANDS!"

"THAT'S RIGHT! I, VIOLET MILLICENT GRAY, HOLD **YOUR** FUTURE IN **MY** HANDS! AND YOU JUST RUINED YOURS, YOU SHIT! NOW YOU CAN BE A LOSER LIKE YOUR LOSER BROTHER, OLD WISHY-WASHY CHARLIE BROWN!"

"I HAVE YOU KNOW, **BOSS LADY**, THAT MY BROTHER IS A DEDICATED SOLDIER OF THE MARINE CORPS! IN FACT, HE'S A SERGEANT!"

"HAHA! GOOD ONE, SALLY! YOU ACTUALLY GOT A LAUGH OUT OF ME! CHARLIE BROWN, A SOLDIER IN THE MARINES! MAYBE **THAT** I CAN BELIEVE, BUT A SERGEANT?! GIVE ME A BREAK!"

Sally calmly pulled out her cell phone, pulled up her photos, zeroed in on one of Charlie in his uniform. She showed it to Violet, who was finally knocked off her high horse.

"It's true!" she shuddered. "Charlie Brown is a sergeant in the Marines!"

"Actually, he's a Staff Sergeant," corrected Sally. "He's working at the recruitment center here in town. Your old punching bag could punch YOU now! And no jury would ever convict him! But because he shows respect for his fellow man or woman, unlike YOU, he probably won't hit you, even though he hates your guts with a passion!"

"Why would he hate me?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! Does this sound familiar? 'Hey, Charlie Brown, I'm having a huge party, but I'm not going to invite YOU!', or how about the endless name-calling and teasing you did to him?! And usually it was with your equally bitchy friend Patty! But you were worse to him. Sure Lucy criticized him a little harsher, but in all honesty, she was being brutally honest with him. Even HE admitted that. In fact, before she went to prison, she had said that she was proud that Charlie proved her wrong about him! And yet, you STILL think of him as that wishy-washy kid that couldn't do anything right! Answer me this, Violet Gray! WHAT THE HELL DID HE DO TO PISS YOU OFF SO MUCH?! HELL, WHAT DID ANY OF MY FAMILY DO TO PISS YOU OFF SO MUCH?!"

"Just your existence is enough to annoy me," Violet said, surprisingly calm. Sally just laughed at her response.

"You know what?" she finally said after laughing. "Tell your old man anything you want about me! Cut off my scholarship; I'm in good standing with the loan department. Because I am DONE with your games! I'll take an incomplete on this, because I have enough credits to graduate, anyway. I QUIT!" And Sally left Violet's office, but not before throwing her dry cleaning on the floor and stomping on it.

"It was already ruined, remember?" she reminded a now-steaming Violet. "Don't bother calling security. I'm HAPPY to leave this hellhole!" And Sally proudly exited her office and eventually the building. Grant Gray was walking by as she was exiting the door.

"Sally?" he said. "Where are you going?"

"I can't take your daughter anymore, Mr. Gray!" she said, now letting her tears flow. "She's not the princess she makes herself out to be to you. She's a monster! She's even threatened to cut off the scholarship you gave me!"

"She doesn't have that authority, Sally," said Grant, obviously concerned and just sinking all of this in. "That being said, I do need proof of any wrongdoing on her part."

"But we DO have it!" chimed a voice out of nowhere. Sally and Grant gasped at who they saw standing before them.

"YOU!" said a shocked Sally.

**THIS STORY WILL CONTINUE IN EPISODE 6.**

**NEXT TIME ON **_**SPARKYVILLE, USA**_** WE LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO VIOLET'S OLD FRIEND, PATTY SWANSON**


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